The Lunchtime Escape

96 Gertrude Street
Fitzroy,
Vic 3065

It was time for another lunch with Brendan and we ventured slightly further into Fitzroy to the Lunchtime Escape. It's on the generally trendy Gertrude Street, but in the stretch sat opposite the Fitzroy commission flats where things are a bit more basic. This doesn't detract from the smart Victorian/Edwardian building that houses the cafe, with tables set up outside.

The interior featured bare brick walls and high ceilings with basic cafeteria style hot plates and the limited menu up on the wall. There were a few other tables occupied when we arrived, but it certainly wasn't busy.

Brendan selected the club sandwich special which included chips and a soft drink (or maybe even a coffee...) all for $10. It looked good and happened to be his first club sandwich and he seemed to enjoy it.

I went for the veggie lasagne, which I was going to have with salad, but the friendly waiter recommended the potatoes and capsicum. The meal was satisfying without being exciting, the tomato covering of the lasagne was different to the usual cheese, but did provide plenty of moisture.

The service was very friendly and prompt. If you are after a basic and satisfying lunch it this would be a good place to escape to.

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

W48

48 Essex Street,
West Footscray
Vic 3012

One of the new wave of cafes that have opened in and around Footscray during 2012, W48 is tucked away in Essex Street. From the outside it is fairly anonymous, we first spotted it due to people seated and standing outside. We got the fear at that point, we'd unsuccessfully tried to visit the Milking Station a few weeks back, and had both just taken part in Run Melbourne, so didn't want to have to wait for ages...

Fortunately however, things weren't super busy once we got inside and we shown to a spot on a long high table running along one of the walls. Fortunately the chap on the end finished his meal soon after, so we could scoot up and get his spot, as in the middle the drawers under the table unfortunately meant we couldn't get our tired and sore legs under. The fit out was as modern and stylish as I had expected after reading about it elsewhere, with a balance of industrial, antiquey and homely items.

The menu covered plenty of healthy brunchy options, with a special up on the board.

My long black was lovely, not too bitter sans sugar.

I had the avocado, hummus and lemon on toast, which came with bonus rocket. The hummus was a little on the runny side, but otherwise it was perfectly prepared.

The toasted ciabatta of buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto and tomato was huge, the kind of sandwich that can require disassembly, it certainly looked great and was rapidly completely devoured. We abstained from a raid on the pastries etc. displayed in the counter...

Although it was reasonably busy the service was prompt, efficient and friendly, the bill came to around $30. I'm sure we will wend our way to wefo again in the future to sample the delights this comfy oasis.




View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Le Bangkok

195 Lonsdale Street,
Melbourne,
VIC,
3000

I hadn't noticed Le Bangkok on Lonsdale Street until a work lunch was arranged there. Nestled in the strip of mainly Greek eateries between Russell and Swanston streets it doesn't really jump out at you.

Once inside the bare stone walls look good and the fit out is pretty modern, if not particularly Thai in nature. We sat upstairs in an area that was decorated with large western style paintings.

For entree I had the "Spring Roll Puk", filled with mixed vegetables, fungus, and shitake mushroom, served with plum sauce. These were good but not particularly exciting, and were on the small side.

The curry puffs looked good and were filled with yellow curry mixed with chicken, mashed potato, and carrot.

I went for the Pad Cha Talay for my main, featuring stir fried prawn, calamari and rockling with seasoning sauce, Thai basil, chili, galangal, green pepper, and vegetables. As you can see it sported several bunches of green peppercorns which gave the dish plenty of kick! All the seafood mentioned was there, but the pieces were fairly few and far between, and in general were fairly small, the veggies were fresh.

The pad thai looked great, and I heard good things about the green curry.

The prices were around $5 for entrées and $15 for mains. The service was pretty efficient, and overall it was a good experience, certainly not a bad Thai option in the CBD.

Update: A  couple of weeks after visiting, Le Bangkok appeared in the news due to an overzealous attempt at pest control! So is it good they are trying to keep the place hygienic, or is it a worry they needed to use the bombs and/or used them so devastatingly!

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Mad Mex, Melbourne Central

Level 2, Dining Hall,
Melbourne Central
Melbourne,
VIC 3000

Phil had heard good things about Mad Mex and fancied Mexican, so the venue for our lunch was decided.

We met at the branch in the food court at Melbourne Central. Despite being towards the back of the court, and a little difficult to find, it was busy when we arrived. The queue gave us a chance to figure out what we wanted from the menu.

The time was useful as once we got to the counter there was a barrage of questions about what we wanted... Perhaps I don't eat fast food that much, but it seemed like there were lots of options even after I'd selected the vegetariano burrito.

Once we got our meals we managed to find some seats and unwrapped our burritos, Phil had gone for the carne, which looked pretty much the same from the outside. The regular sized offerings were pretty large to my eyes!

Biting into the soft flour taco's the eggplant, zucchini and mushrroms were well mixed with the black beans, rice, cheese and lettuce, sauces and guacamole. Overall there was a reasonable amount of flavour, but not quite the spicy explosion I'd been hoping for... Phil was slightly disappointed the meat too, nothing particularly wrong, but nothing too special either.

The service at the counter verged on to the shouty side of efficient, but they were busy, and we were both new to the place. Overall it did remind me of my one visit to a US burrito joint, so maybe that's a good thing, and it was happily free of too much kitsch Mexicana. For $11 it was a satisfying feed, but didn't quite live up to our fairly high expectations.

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Bopha Devi

27 Ballarat Street
Yarraville,
VIC 3013

We'd been to Bopha Devi a few years ago, in the pre-foodblogging era and had good memories. Some west-side friends had an interstate visitor in town, and we arranged to meet up to eat in the heart of Yarraville.

Since we'd last visited it seemed as if the place had had somewhat of a facelift, I certainly don't remember it being quite as modern and stylish.

The menu on the web seems slightly different to that we perused on arrival. We decided to share the dishes, and the entrées included Spring rolls, which came with plenty of fresh herbs, cucumber and lettuce and some extra rice noodles.

The K'dom, an interesting mix of chicken and crab meat rolled together in a crispy bread were a new a new dish to me and had an unusual texture but were enjoyable and comforting. They arrived on the same plate as the "Prawn Pucks" which had been coated in panko and then deep fried.

The chicken Saramann was cooked with coconut cream, onion, broccoli flowers, five spices, lemongrass, turmeric, lime-leaves and crushed peanuts a favourite of our friends and was a good tip!

The highlight of the visit was the Choo Chi featuring pan-fried barramundi fillet in coconut cream, lemongrass, turmeric, lime-leaves and crushed peanuts. It was spicy with plenty of tumeric flavours, and it all worked really well with the fish.

The beef  and eggplant dish was a little bit too heavy on the almost slimy eggplant for some of the diners, but I enjoyed it.

Each of the main dishes were huge, and 3 between the five of us was plenty! The service was friendly, if just a little on the slow side. The meal worked out as pretty good value, just remember not to order too many mains!

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Saint & Rogue

582 Little Collins Street
Melbourne,
VIC 3000

03 9620 9720

We met up for a pre (docklands)  footy meal at Saint & Rogue on a Friday night, and it was pretty busy throughout, from the tables outside, through the bar inside and upstairs too, fortunately we had a table booked!

Housed in an older building, the establishment itself seems to have been around since about 2009. With its wood panelled walls and cathedral ceiling on the 1st floor the place feels a bit like an upmarket English pub. We got to our table and then perused the Dining Room menu.

We shared a couple of the 'small food' items to start, one being the Chilli salt and Szechuan peppered squid, with a lime and caper aioli. These were nicely flavoured, but a little tough the aioli was great.

The mezze Plate featured mixed dips, one hummusy another tzatziki like, some olives, some delicious smoked salmon, sausage, stuffed vine leaves, rocket and crostini, plenty to keep us all interested!

The mains on offer covered some pub standards and a few Italian and Asian inspired dishes. The char-grilled scotch fillet had the tasty blackened exterior and came with chunky chips, plenty of gravy or was it jus, garlic seeded mustard aioli and a mixed leaf salad.

The chicken Parma kept a connoisseur happy and of course came with chips and salad.

Initially it was hard to spot the meat in the arm duck salad with crispy shallots, soba noodles, water chestnuts and char sui sesame dressing, but it was there and the overall dish pleased it's recipient.

I had the prawn, lemon and saffron risotto which was topped with plenty of fresh parmesan and wild rocket, which were both needed to revive what was otherwise a fairly bland meal.

The service was friendly, withg a bit of banter from our waiters, when we could get their attention. It was busy anf to be fair the staff were doing a great job, and we still managed to get to the stadium just in time for a 7:50 kick off... The bill with drinks came to $170 for four, and I'd certainly pop back for a bite or a drink... the website also has some specials available at lunch and on some evenings.

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Breizoz French Creperie

49 Brunswick Street,
Fitzroy,
VIC 3065

Despite it's address Breizoz  opens onto Gerturude Street, on the corner with Brunswick Street. The name is a fusion of the Celtic name for Brittany, Breiz and Oz. There haven't been many (any?) French restaurants on here before, which is perhaps an oddity after living in France for nearly as much time as I've spent in Australia. I probably first tried crepes and and their savory cousins galettes on family holidays as a kid in Brittany, and then occasionally sought them out when based in Paris, especially when keen for a fast French feed.

We were greeted by the French chef working by the front door, inside the restaurant has some gallic touches. It was fairly quiet on a Wednesday lunch time when we visited and after choosing a table we perused the savory section of the menu and specials board which offered some traditional cheese, ham and egg based combinations and some less familiar options including whole sausage.

I selected a new combination to me, the vegetarian ratatouille, which sensibly came on top rather than folded inside the buckwheat pancake. The galette certainly seemed pretty authentic to me, thin, a little crispy on the outside and with the distinctive almost nutty flavour, and the veggies hit the spot and worked better than I expected as an accompaniment to the the main event...

Brendan went for the traditional ham and cheese and seemed very satisfied with the selection, perhaps I should have waited to take a shot once he had broken in and exposed the content!

We were both still a little on the hungry side so returned to the menu to take a look at some sweet offerings, and Brendan's honey and lemon crepe was almost drowning in what turned out to be mostly lemon.

I went for the fairly un-photogenic home made plum jam filling which was enjoyable and not too sickly sweet.

The service was prompt and friendly, we each ended up paying around $17 for the two courses which in the end left us happy and satisfied. Brendan took a card as we paid, always a good sign he was happy with the establishment. I enjoyed the familiar almost comfort food meal and would happily go back. There was a group of French speakers happily tucking in as we left, always a good sign!





View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map